Descended from a family of Jewish court bankers,[2] his parents were Baron Joseph von Hirsch auf Gereuth [de] and Caroline Wertheimer.

She died in Paris on 1 April 1899, leaving the remaining family assets to her adopted son, Maurice Arnold de Forest (later titled Count of Bendern).

He amassed a large fortune, which he increased by purchasing and working railway concessions in Austria, Turkey and the Balkans, and by speculations in sugar and copper.

[6] He took a deep interest in the educational work of the Alliance Israelite Universelle, and on two occasions presented the society with gifts of a million francs.

On the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of Emperor Francis Joseph's accession to the Austrian throne, he gave £500,000 for the establishment of primary and technical schools in Galicia and the Bukowina.

Thereupon, Hirsch resolved to devote the money to an emigration and colonization scheme which should afford the persecuted Jews opportunities of establishing themselves in agricultural colonies outside Russia.

In addition to its vast agricultural work, it had a gigantic and complex machinery for dealing with the whole problem of Jewish persecution, including emigration and distributing agencies, technical schools, co-operative factories, savings and loan banks, and model dwellings.

Besides this great organization, Hirsch founded in 1881 a benevolent trust in the United States for the benefit of Jewish immigrants, which he endowed with £493,000.

It remained open until the 1940s but suffered due to the settler's lack of farming experience, poor soil and distance from viable markets.

In 1893 the Woodbine Agricultural School (1892-1917) was founded to give immigrant students practical experience and financial assistance to purchase their own farms.

The Fund established New York City's Baron de Hirsch Trade School (1895-1935) to teach carpentry, machinery, plumbing, electrical work, and painting.